Gallery presents new installation with whimsical furniture creations

Gallery presents new installation with whimsical furniture creations

In its 10th year as the only U.S. university gallery dedicated to installation art, Rice University Art Gallery will present “Eminent Domain,” an installation by New York designers Matthew White and Frank Webb, on view Nov. 10 through Dec. 11.

Photo by Steven Nilsson

New York designers Matthew White, left, and Frank Webb enlarge black-and-white reproductions of antique engravings, silk-screen them onto fiberboard, then cut and assemble the pieces into furniture and accessories. Their installation will turn Rice Gallery into a garden-like setting with a pavilion in the center.

The White Webb partnership is known for creating whimsical furniture using collaged elements of antique engravings. The designers enlarge black-and-white reproductions of the engravings, silk-screen them onto fiberboard, then cut and assemble the pieces into furniture and accessories generating a witty collision of classic imagery and pop sensibility.

The opening reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, will feature remarks by White and Webb at 6 p.m. Complimentary beverages, including ale from St. Arnold Brewing Company, will be served.
White and Webb will give a gallery talk at noon Friday, Nov. 11. A complimentary light lunch will be provided to all in attendance.

All gallery events are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit <www.ricegallery.org> or call 713-348-6069.

The White Webb installation at Rice Gallery expands the idea of their furniture to an entire setting, a lighthearted folly that includes a pavilion in the center of the gallery. Although the exterior of the pavilion is stark white, every surface of its interior, furnishings and accessories — French walls, Italian ceiling, Moroccan floor, Regence chandelier, even the ornate, circular table and the butterfly collection and magnifying glass resting on it — are covered with engravings. The pavilion sits in a garden-like setting with hand-tinted, giant flowers and insects, cut from botanical prints, winding up green walls.

Oversized and cartoon-like, “Eminent Domain” also gently pokes fun at, yet at the same time pays homage to, the grand European styles of the past captured in the detailed engravings.

White was born in Amarillo, Texas, in 1958. He studied at the School of American Ballet in New York from 1977 to 1978 and danced professionally with the Los Angeles Ballet until 1983. White then worked as a graphic artist until he launched his own antiques business in 1996. He expanded his practice into interior design, and in 2004 was named to Architectural Digest’s list of the 100 best designers in the world.

He is on the board of Save Venice, a nonprofit group that restores art and monuments in Venice, Italy. White lives in Los Angeles and New York.

Born in Massachusetts in 1964, Webb holds a degree in international economics from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, as well as a certificate in international business from Nijenrode, the Netherlands School of Business.

He worked in the financial service industry for 17 years before leaving to explore other fields. In 2004 he joined forces with White and formed White Webb. He lives in New York.

White Webb is an interior design firm with offices in New York and California. Their projects have been seen in nearly every national design magazine.